NUMMI, union reach closure agreement

The shutdown of the NUMMI plant loomed closer Monday after the United Auto Workers and management fashioned a tentative deal for the plant's shutdown and retention packages for factory employees.

The retention deal is now estimated to be worth $281 million, up from a previous value of $253 million, according to information provided by officials with UAW Local 2244, whose members work at the Fremont plant.

The UAW and executives with New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. reached the deal in the pre-dawn hours Monday.

The East Bay factory is due to close by April 1. The shutdown would terminate a quarter-century-old manufacturing venture that ushered in efficiencies and new practices for the ossified American auto industry.

The NUMMI plant was doomed following separate decisions last summer by joint venture partners Toyota Motor Corp, and General Motors Corp. to abandon the auto factory.

In recent weeks, UAW Local 2244 and NUMMI had been negotiating to attempt to reach a deal on a agreements linked to the shutdown of the factory. About 4,700 people work at the NUMMI plant.

The new deal is worth about $28 million more than the prior retention package offered by NUMMI, Javier Contreras, chairman of the bargaining committee for UAW Local 2244, said in an interview.

Management dangled the retention bonuses before workers to induce them to stay on the job producing quality vehicles until the shutdown date.

Advertisement

"We did make an improvement on economic provisions for the retention package and noneconomic provisions for the shutdown agreement," Contreras said.

NUMMI officials were tight-lipped about the deal ahead of worker votes on the packages.

"No details about the agreement will be publicly discussed until the union has had the opportunity to present the terms of the agreement to its membership," Lance Tomasu, a NUMMI spokesman, said in a prepared release.

Some union rank-and-file members have criticized union leaders about what they perceived to be a sluggish trickle of information and pace of negotiations on the shutdown and retention packages.

"The union has not listened to us during this process," said Kevin Camara, a paint shop employee. "People were upset because the union wasn't listening to us."

The previous package contained $168 million for hourly workers and $85 million for salaried employees.

"The UAW didn't do enough for us," said Scott MacMillan, a Fremont resident and factory worker. "It's been hard to get information from the union. That has caused a lot of frustration for the employees."

Union members are scheduled to vote on Wednesday to ratify or reject the tentative pact.

"The union wasn't giving us information as quickly as they should have," said John Bishop, an Oakland resident and quality control team leader. "But maybe the union wasn't getting information quickly enough from management."

In a statement, UAW Local 2244 conceded that the process hasn't always been pleasant for the workers.

"While some became frustrated with the slow progress, this agreement only became possible as a result of the hard work and solidarity of those supporting the union's campaign to win fair treatment of the NUMMI workers," the UAW statement said in part.

With this agreement, the shutdown of the NUMMI plant appears to have become a certainty.

"We still have hope that things can change, because it ain't over until it's over," Contreras, the UAW bargaining chairman, said. "There is always hope. But the feeling we are getting is the plant will close."